Religion and politics have been around since the beginning of time, the two have always seemed to have very similar characteristics, the way people follow both, the control it can have on people, and how they both affect our daily lives. We need to make sure they both are as separate as possible to make sure they both can prosper without one polluting the other.
Religion is a very important cornerstone in every culture, it can dictate how people live their lives even if you're not particularly religious. Christianity is the dominant religion here so it is the one I'm going to use as an example, it has very positive influences on our culture, it is founded on giving to the poor, treating others how you want to be treated, and that you should spread goodwill to everyone you meet. It can have negative effects too, when it becomes apart of our political system you get groups that want mandatory prayer in schools and discrimination against LGBTQ+ individuals. I have nothing against religious people but it needs to stay out of politics, our country is full of people with many different beliefs and values that shouldn't have to bend to someone else's faith.
If we truly want separation of both we cannot tax churches, I know that among some progressives that is an unpopular opinion but hear me out, churches that do not function as a business shouldn't be taxed, mega churches, on the other hand, should be. For those of you who don't know what megachurches are, they are churches that run like businesses, they get paid for appearing on T.V, they sell merchandise, they sometimes even have coffee shops inside them. Churches that actually care about the words they preach wouldn't sell out their religion to make a profit, the exact thing that figures like Jesus would despise.
A favorite topic for politicians that are looking for votes will use their religion to there advantage. They'll use it as a reason to vote for them because it means they are automatically superior to their opponent and that they have the "moral high ground." A candidates religion should not influence the way you vote, their stances on the issues and the policies they want should be your deciding factor, do not let their religious zeal trick you.
Religion and politics do best when they are separate. We need to make sure that people of a religion have the freedom to be free of political influence in their faith and politics should be free from religious bias. We must not shame someone for having a faith that we don't totally understand, we must hold people accountable for their actions, not the god they pray too.
